British shirtmaker to open 26 stores across Gulf

The UAE’s Korath Holding has signed a $5m deal to open 26 Hawes & Curtis stores across the Gulf over the next five years.

Hawes & Curtis, a British shirt specialist based in London’s Jermyn Street, is owned by entrepreneur Touker Suleyman.

According to a report in the Daily Telegraph, the shirtmaker will open its first outlet this year at the soon-to-be-launched World Trade Centre Mall in Abu Dhabi.

“We are really excited about this opportunity and are looking forward to working with such an established British brand,” Riz Korath, the chief executive of Korath Holding, told the newspaper. “It’s great to be bringing British heritage to the Middle East.”

The Hawes & Curtis brand was set up in 1913, and has 30 shops in the UK. Suleyman also told the Telegraph that he was planning to launch stores in the US, Indonesia and elsewhere in the Far East.

Korath Holding, which was launched in the UAE in 1961 by chairman Korath Mohammed, runs a series of brands in the UAE, including KM Retail.